Face the Music: A Life Exposed (55 page)

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Authors: Paul Stanley

BOOK: Face the Music: A Life Exposed

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Over the years I’ve had no interest in adding my name to an ever-growing list of celebrities whose autobiographies seemed little more than a self-serving platform to brag and boast of supposed accomplishments.

With time, I came to envision telling my own story in a book that might possibly empower and inspire others to meet and overcome their own obstacles head-on and with hard work, as I believe I have.

Life, I have found, is a team sport, and I would need a small but dedicated and talented team to see this through.

I want to thank each of them:

On an intuitive gut hunch I contacted Tim Mohr as a possible collaborator. Within an hour of meeting we had rolled up our sleeves. He was totally dedicated to my story being in my words and my voice and helped put it into the best and most effective form possible. Tim’s opinions and point of view were indispensable. As if that alone wasn’t enough, he constantly left me both repulsed and in awe as he bravely sampled all kinds of questionable street foods during our travels abroad. Thank you, Tim.

Once I signed on with a publishing company, building a new relationship initially had to be based on what was said seeming simpatico between us, and ultimately on faith. Roger Freet, HarperOne’s executive editor, became a close ally who cheered me on, supporting me and implementing my ideas in all phases and aspects of
Face the Music.
When things got bogged down he was there. Thank you, Roger.

Thank you, Bill Randolph, for your guidance and work on my behalf to bring this project to both a start and a finish.

Thank you, Michael Levine, for your early belief that I had a story worth telling and helping me find a platform for it.

Thank you to all members of KISS over the years, but especially and with full appreciation to my brother to this day, Gene.

Thank you to my parents, William and Eva Eisen. Everything they did in my life was done always with the best of intentions. They gave me many gifts and I am here and who I am directly and indirectly because of them.

It seems almost redundant to thank my incredible wife, Erin, and wondrous children, Evan, Colin, Sarah, and Emily, who are at the very core of this book, but I can never thank them enough. Thank you again for your endless support, inspiration, and love.

And last but never forgotten, my fans. You made this road trip possible, and every mile I have traveled these past forty years is a direct result of what our relationship has enabled me to do. You remain in my thoughts and in my heart. I have always been humbled when told how I may have helped some of you on your road. Maybe you knowing me better now means we can still go further together. I hope so.

About the Author

PAUL STANLEY
is the frontman and rhythm guitarist for KISS, which he cofounded in New York City in 1973. He is the designer of numerous KISS album covers, costumes, and concert stages, in addition to writing many of KISS’s most successful songs. With sales of more than one hundred million records worldwide, KISS sits atop the list of American bands, with the most gold-certified albums earned in history. Along with his bandmates, Stanley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. A painter, with art sales reaching two million dollars; a solo musician; a musical stage performer; founding partner in Rock & Brews restaurants; and co-owner of the Arena Football League’s L.A. KISS, Stanley is a committed and active supporter of various Wounded Warrior Project organizations. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Erin, and four children.

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About the Collaborator

Tim Mohr is an award-winning translator of novels by such authors as Alina Bronsky, Charlotte Roche, and Wolfgang Herrndorf. He has also collaborated on best-selling memoirs by Gil Scott-Heron and original Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan. He spent several years as a staff editor at
Playboy
magazine, where he worked with writers including Hunter S. Thompson, Matt Taibbi, John Dean, and George McGovern. Mohr’s own writing has appeared in the
New York Times,
the
Daily Beast,
and
New York
magazine, among other publications. Before starting his writing career, he made his living as a club DJ in Berlin, Germany.

Praise
for Face the Music

“Paul Stanley proves himself as an artist in music and on canvas and now with a great book.”

—Jimmy Page

“An entertaining yet piercingly honest journey from self-conscious child to the world’s most visually famous rock band to, finally—with the makeup wiped away—a place of peace as a father and a man. Paul Stanley’s story is both ordinary and extraordinary, which makes it inspiring.”

—Mitch Albom, author of
The First Phone Call from Heaven
and
Tuesdays with Morrie

“Both honest and inspirational. Amazing tales from one of rock’s great frontmen.”

—Sir Elton John

“Paul is a great man who has achieved great things. From the Popcorn Club all the way to the Hall of Fame, his story is inspiring and motivating for anyone who dreams big. As he said in 1978, ‘Wouldn’t You Like to Know Me?’ The answer is yes, and now we finally do.”

—Dave Grohl

Also by Paul Stanley

Nothin’ to Lose

Credits

ART DIRECTION: MICHELE WETHERBEE

FRONT COVER PHOTOGRAPH: © BRIAN LOWE

FRONT COVER DESIGN: FACEOUT STUDIO, CHARLES BROCK

BACK COVER PHOTOGRAPH: © ASH NEWELL

Copyright

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are from the personal collection of the author.

F
ACE THE MUSIC
:
A Life Exposed.
Copyright © 2014 by Paul Stanley. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or here in after invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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